Happy 3rd, Sophia!

New Year's Eve found us at Campingplatz Nord-West, just outside of Munich. We had arrived on the 30th, surprised to see the campgroung FULL! Most of the motorhomes were from Italy and they were laughing at our size. After seeing someone else disturb the office during "rest" time, I knocked and asked if we could stay in the only available spot, which was more of a turn out and was not intended to be a overnight spot. We were granted an OK and manuevered in. It was the last spot on the grounds. We were able to move to a normal spot on the 1st.

Our friends Aaron and Kerstin were gracious in researching and planning Sophia's birthday event. We decided to attend Circus Krone, a permanent circus in Munich.

This is a cool circus! I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. Though some of our neighbors may have thought so... by the time the show started, I had gone through the crowded aisles twice, with kids in tow. First was an attempt to get Megan to go down and try to ride and stand on the horse in the ring (all the kids were doing it but we were too late).
The second was to take Sophia down to be acknowledged for her birthday - they present all the birthday kids with a really nice certificate and small trinket (it was a frog key chain). She most remembers the frog key chain!

It was a long show - started at 3 and I think it was 5:30 before it was over. Kids overwhelmed and happy, we wandered back to Aaron and Kerstin's place to have cake.

Birthday Girl:

Circus Krone:

One-Ring Wonder:

The Story of the Pied Piper - Hameln, Germany

Our friends, Aaron and Kerstin, were with Kerstin's family in a small village near Hameln. As this was only a short distance from Lubbecke, we had to swing by for a visit. I had forgotten the fairytale, "The Legend of the Pied Piper" until I started reading an Encarta article on the city (something I've started doing more regularly as we are visiting so many cities without appropriate context).

Anyway, Kerstin's parents would hear nothing of our staying at one of the two Stellplatze's in Hameln and after much research, found out it would be OK for us to park for a day or two in front of their house. They measured off and blocked off an appropriate space for us; the only worry being that the garbage truck might not be able to squeeze by us the next day. No worry at all - the truck fit just fine.

The morning after our arrival, Kerstin's family arrived to meet us and tour the RV. It was fun to meet everyone and funny to hear the remarks about our living quarters. Most folks are surprised at the room inside (once you open the slides). Everyone seems to love the bunk beds for the kids and the ability for us to have private space after the kids go to bed. I think people must believe we are clinically insane, but are just too polite to admit so when they meet us.

After much discussion as to transportation options, we finally pulled out the strollers and boarded the bus for Hameln. My "gingerbread" remark about Minden buildings doesn't hold a candle to the buildings in Hameln. Very ornate buildings greeted us with more detail than I could possibly take in in just one day. Traces of the Pied Piper are everywhere! There's a giant rat on the top of the bridge leading in to town; imprints of rats leading through the town, several statues, even placards on the sides of buildins and houses, all reminders of the 13th century legend detailed by Brothers Grimm.

We enjoyed a stroll through the city, capping it off with coffee and cake at the Museum Cafe. The hot chocolate served to the girls was the richest we've seen. Literally, the chocolate coated the spoons when you removed the spoon from the cups. Very rich and flavorful - a nice balance of flavor and texture (not that they were too keen to share).

Pictures from the experience:

Us in front of the Pied Piper statue (well, one of the statues, anyway):

Is that a gold rat I see on the bridge?:

Gingerbread detail at it's finest - I believe this is the Rathaus:

Cool view of Hameln:

Church we visited - it has a book detailing deaths of town members in WWI and WWII in which I found a reference to an Ernst Scherer. Maybe some day we'll take the time to start that family tree research...

Christmas is here!

Feeling a bit embarrassed, as I had lost my host family's phone number and we didn't have email access during our travel week, we kind of showed up unnannounced. Well, not really - they knew we were planning to arrive on the 23rd, but they didn't know what time. I hate feeling rude. But, timing seemed perfect as we arrived after Sabine and Susanne, but before Simone and Stefan. In other words, we were just in time for a late breakfast.

We were so busy from the time we walked in the door, there was not much time to really consolidate thoughts and post blog updates. We did manage a round of Internet calls to our folks so the kids could wish grandmas & grandpas a Merry Christmas. We feel quite blessed to be thoroughly welcomed into the home and every ensuing activity. I had not spent Christmas with the family back in my days as an exchange student - so really had no idea what the family traditions were. It was fun and heart-warming to share the season with everyone - and at the same time, we missed our friends and family back home.

First off, a wealth of packages greeted us when we arrived. It was hard not to open them immediately - huge thanks to Lisa, Sandra, our moms & dads and Landon. You really helped make Christmas memorable for us (especially the feather boas...which leave a trail of mini feathers and the screeching stuffed animals - you've made your point. We should be home for Christmas next year).

Christmas traditions where we were are pretty simple. Eat, eat, and eat more! Celebrations started off with a lamb dinner, Norweigan style on the 23rd. Susanne explained the secret was in the brining process and allowing adequate time to rinse the meat - all I know is it was some of the tastiest lamb I've ever enjoyed.

Holy Night (Christmas Eve) saw a late breakfast and a "wander" to town for Gluhwein and socializing with friends. As you can see, we weren't the only individuals imbibing. Seemed like the whole town was out for the afternoon. The middle street was so packed with people that it was easier to walk around the block than to try and push through. Stores closed at 2pm, and would be closed through 27.December.

Later in the afternoon, the Christmas trees were brought in and decorated, including real candles on the big tree! Monika designated the "small" tree in the entry way for the girls to decorate and was happy to have their help decorating the "big" tree in the main living room. The traditional approach would be for the "big" tree to be decorated in secret and revealed after dinner - but we're all pretty relaxed about these things. With candles lit and other lights dimmed, it was quite beautiful. Forgive my photography skills - I seemed to not take many pictures and those that I snapped are blurry.

Megan and I followed Simone and Sabine to church services on Holy Night. We arrived early (or so we thought) and waited patiently for the earlier service to let out. Finally, the rest of the folks waiting started spilling in and, voila! the church was filled almost immediatley to standing room only. Poor Megan was bored - I had warned her that services would be in German, but she was determined to attent. She worked on reading the hymnal throughout the service and tried to hum along with the songs. For the first time during the season, we were hearing Christimas hymns in German. Thus far, we had only heard English carols when out shopping or surfing radio stations. The German lyrics are quite beautiful and it's almost a shame to have not encountered the local language versions earlier in the season.

After a dinner of carp and knudeln (oh, don't forget the Linie Aquavit to aid digestion), we retired to the living room to exchange presents. Our family was simply doted on - lots of new toys for the girls, games, hats, gloves - the unwrapping was overwhelming and the kids simply were melting down by the time we were finished. Poor Megan waited until we were at the top of the stairs (3-stories) to ask for her new PJs from Aunt Sandy... I said "no" (assuming they would need alterations, as usual) and she was just about inconsolable.

The First Day of Christmas was largely one of relaxation. Of course, Santa found the Scherer girls. Megan first went running into the living room, looking at the big tree but there were no new gifts. She thought he had missed her. Alas, he left gifts by the kid's tree in the entry way, of course. New baby dolls for the girls and stockings full of chocolate. They couldn't have been more pleased with the new "stuff."

Christmas dinner was roasted goose and knudeln. Quite tasty - again, followed by our now beloved Aquavit (which has medicinal value, honest). We hung out talking and enjoying the evening together. Without realizing it, we sipped our way through 11 bottles of quite tasty wine (8 people) over the course of the evening. The family started teasing us - this was the finest from the family cellar and we had drank it all! Turns out it was about 2Euro/bottle from the local market. One of the wonders of Europe - if you know what you're buying, you can find some excellent wine options that are not super expensive.

The Second Day of Christmas saw Dan and Sherry frantically fixing an American breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon rolls, bacon and scrambled eggs. We were only 30-minutes late in serving than we initially thought. It's near impossible to pull off such a feat in a strange kitchen, on a distinct lack of sleep and two kids running rampant. Various family members kept checking in on us - I think we looked more stressed out than we were. It was actually quite fun to pull off, but there were some complications (like bacon or "spec" is largely sold in uncut blocks; which we sliced by hand... which were thicker slices and smoke a LOT when you cook them.). We didn't catch anything in fire and we cleaned up after ourselves. People seemed to enjoy the breakfast - though it could be simply because they were all but starving by the time it was ready. =) Funny how what is a no-brainer at home is quite complicated in someone else's kitchen.

Extended family arrived later in the afternoon and we enjoyed a long tea (coffee). Finally the threat was issued, either go for a walk through town with Hans or stay and help Monika in the kitchen. Given our time in the kitchen that morning, we opted for the long walk.

Dinner that night was Venison - which had been slow cooked throughout the afternoon and was served with more knudeln. So tasty - it brought back vivid childhood memories for Dan.

A hearty "thank you" to everyone - we had a very memorable holiday.

Minden, Germany

We finally made it near Lübbecke and by now, are quite tired of traveling. I had figured we could stay at the Stellplatz in Bad Essen, about 15km from my host family's place. Turns out, it's parking in a farmer's field with only a 6amp connection and a minimum 20-minute walk to town. Given the weather, we decided to move on the next day.


We ate 20km and moved on to Minden. A free Stellplatz is located just across the bridge from the city. The only "gotcha" here is you have to purchase a chip card from the tourist office in order to connect electricity (50c/kwh) and use water/dump facilities. This being the weekend before Christmas, they had only two 10Euro cards left; which I pursuaded them to sell me... but they were quite reluctant to do give me both. Ordinarily they can readily get new cards from the bank, but apparently the bank had closed early - so there was no ability to recharge or buy new cards until the next morning. Crazy system - we wish they would just put an automate in place. The dump & water station were closed up tight - though as we don't use the chemi toilets, we were able to dump in the normal grate.



Downtown Minden itself is very beautiful. We loved the easy access from our parking spot and the old-world charm (maybe it's the Gluhwein talking?). Our first night in town, Megan and I got lost heading back out of town and I found a second hand shop with a used stroller in the window for 24 Euro. It was as though it was calling out for us personally (we had considered one earlier in October, but at 99Euro++, we agreed we could all walk.) After talking it over with Dan, we went back to town that evening and purchased it. Sophia couldn't be happier!! With Sophia tucked in, we stayed out and enjoyed the beautiful evening. We were warmed by the lights of the Christmas Market and a round of warm beverages for all (Dan and I had yummy Gluhwein, not so yummy Glogg while the kids savored hot chocolate). Everyone was out, friends gathered together in small groups, reconnecting. We could easily see the social aspect of Christmas Markets and enjoying time with good friends. The buildings in the alt stadt (old city) were lit and looked just like gingerbread cookies. What a lovely evening.

Shopping was the primary point of the visit and we wound up missing the lego exhibit and the beautiful church in town. But, shopping was finally done and after spending a night wrapping presents, I was ready for Christmas. Just in the "Nick" of time. =)


For the duration of our stay, weather was mild - though cold and frosty at night. The day we were to leave was another story... it clouded up and started raining in the early hours of the morning. ICE! About 1/4" of ice covered the cobble-stone. Turning out of the parking space would not be an option as we wouldn't have enough traction to turn... and Dan didn't like the prospect of sliding backwards, out of control. For a while we thought we might not be leaving... but once the motorhome in front of us moved on, we had the space to pull straight forward and make the turn on gravel.



Quick pic of downtown Minden - all decked out for the holidays:







The coolest Gluhwein stand - though not the tastiest. They had cool commerative cups - of which we purchased 2 from 2007.






View from the pedestrian bridge connecting the stellplatz with the city.

A travelling we will go...

With most of the shopping taken care of in Constance, we wandered on. This blog covers several days of travel but some thoughts along the way (most of them to do with the cold weather).

Sometimes 15km off the freeway feels more like 50km. I was pushing for a hard schedule - get to/near Lubbecke fast so we have time to finish our shopping and gift wrapping. Alas, the going is always a bit slower than we anticipate and we found ourselves reaching 4pm with another 100km to go. I found a promising "free" site in Nagold, supposedly only 15km off the freeway.

Suffice it to say, while the town looks interesting to explore in the summer, it was the coldest we'd encountered yet. And the most expensive "free" site with electricity available at 1 Euro/kwh! It got down to 14-degrees F (I think that's -6-degrees C). The inside of the windshield was iced up as were the interirors of the cabinets.

We promptly moved on the next morning. Sadly, the town was too far away from the Stellplatz in this weather for us to enjoy.

Our next stopover was at Biggesee - where we overnighted at a very large, very nice campground. Getting to the campground was pretty easy, though it's definitely not near shopping. Getting out, we didn't pay attention to the route mapped by AutoRoute, and it was a bit sketchier driving. I have to remember AutoRoute will always keep you moving forward and doesn't have the ability to know that we are driving a big, heavy, wide motorhome and should avoid hairpin turns and narrow roads.

Given the frost, all external water was turned off for the winter. We were able to fill up water from one of their wash sinks, and did laundry. There were plenty of other caravans, but the campground was largely deserted for the time we were there. Yes, it was cold - I thought these pictures were cool ... the beautiful sunset and the icy, crystal clear morning.

We would love to spend a few days at Biggesee in the summer - looks like there's a lot of biking, hiking and swimming to be enjoyed.

Kids will be kids - they love playgrounds, frost or not.

Constance, Germany

We headed out to Constance, Germany to start our drive North for the holidays. Did we mention that it's cold? There were supposed to be several motorhome options in Constance. Alas, everything was closed for the season.


Finally found a spot about 30km outside of Constance. Through sheer determination, we made it in to their back lot; we were able to fill water from a hose tap inside the restroom. We knew things would be closing up for the winter, but didn't anticipate encountering huge difficulties getting water.


We were close enough in to bike to the train station. Fortunately, it was an honest town as we found ourselves without the keys to the bike locks. About 30-minutes by train and we were back in Constance, absorbing the beautiful Christmas market. Though we were quickly chilled.


By now, I am entering my annual Christmas shopping panic. I've done NO shopping and am concerned about the time we have. Dan is Mr. Relaxed about the whole thing. Men! I swear, they have it so easy that they can put off Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve. He gave in though and took the girls back to the RV to let me shop in peace. After seeing them off on the train, I decided to explore to the left of the station, where I found a huge shopping mall! It was warm and tons of stores and sales to take advantage of. I left with a lighter wallet but tons of Christmas presents for the kids - at about 1/2 what we would have paid in Switzerland. Made my way back to the Christmas Market for some gifts for my host family and then enjoyed a quiet train ride back to the RV.

The pictures below don't do the town justice. The Christmas Market is simply beautiful, especially when the lights are on. By the time I left town (6pm), it was just warming up - people everywhere. Market stalls extend out to the lake front, gluhwein, candles, bratwurst .... all the makings of holidays outdoors.



Pictures from Constance, Germany:

Steckborn, Switzerland

Feeling like we've all but exhausted our stay in Winterthur, we finally decided to move on. Looking through the Reisemobile Bode Atlas book, we found a Stellplatz in nearby Steckborn for only 12 chf per night (vs. the 22 chf at the campground in Winterthur). Why not? Instant savings of 10 chf per night can't be disputed - even if the dump station is 1.3 km from the parking lot.



An easy 30-minutes drive (after filling up propane in Winterthur where there is a huge facility for propane, helium and other gasses), we arrived in a sleepy town on the edge of the Boden See. Across the water is Germany, where we're planning to head for the winter holidays.



The town is tiny and very old (from the 1400's). Most recognizable to me is the Bernina manufacturing facility on the outskirts of town. If I felt more confident in my German, I'd be planning a visit to their "Creative Center" for some lessons.



Our first night in town, there was a knock on the door and a visitor offered us a bottle of wine. His wife is from Paris, and she told him to bring the Americans some "good" wine! Very sweet of them. We chatted a bit and expressed an interest in having them visit us again - which resulted in a dinner invitation to their home for the Swiss specialty, fondue! We're looking forward to an enlightening evening.



We were met by another American in town, and enjoyed a nice conversation at the marina. It's nice to be able to speak one's native language. After wandering through town for one afternoon, I felt like the entire town (population 3,000) must know us! Cute town and everyone we've met has been super friendly.





Pictures from the area:

Bernina Factory:

Church:


Center of the city:


City Hall:



View from Marina:

Zürich in a day

Our time in Winterthur has been met with semi-daily exclamations of, "You know, we really should visit Zürich." The train tickets for a 30km ride seemed outrageously expensive though (20 chf per person). But, we finally did it - and wow, what a great city! There are a bunch of cool (and spendy) shops to lighten your bank account alongside plenty of beautiful buildings and stunning architecture.

We were greeted at the train station by George Clooney staring down from us from an advertisement for a cappucino machine. Funny! The train station is also home to a vast shopping district and indoor Christmas Market. Neither of which we explored much in the interest of time.




Of note was the Singing Christmas Tree - granted we didn't see the evening production as the kids don't handle late-night excursions very well. But it was enjoyable and is the first time Megan has seen a choir.



Crossing over to the "hip" section of the city, we found the super spendy shops. Very fun to window shop, but definitely out of my budget. Found a beautiful, soft, wool shoulder wrap with satin trim ... for a very cool price of 499 chf! Yipes. I can wear my sweaters and jackets, thank you!

We visited two churches, St. Peter's Church (the oldest church in Zürich - official site) and Fraumünster Church (official site). Both were very elegant. St. Peter's has some very old and faded murals in the alcove and Fraumünster Church is home to world-renowned stained glass windows designed by Marc Chaqall in 1970.

Various pictures from around Zürich:

Dan in Zürich:

Clocktower - St. Peter's Church:



Fraumünster Church:



Door to Fraumünster Church


Babar Store (I was a litle surprised to see an entire store, in the trendy section of Zürich, dedicated to Babar the Elephant):



From Zürich with Love: (no, that's not Megan in the sculpture. Random sculpture in gardens across from the marina. Goes well with the next picture, don't you think?)



Free Hugs: (it's up to you to decide if you think it's funny or creepy. There were several folks with "free hugs" signs at the train station - a happy bunch. And hey, who can't use a hug?)



A side note: Short of our train ride from Brussels to Köln, we have not had our public transportation tickets checked at all. Fortunately, we always buy tickets. After four months of no checks, we were checked twice in two days. The first was on the bus one evening - after a normal stop, the bus driver announced a ticket control stop. When we next stopped, about 20 control officers boarded and very quietly, casually checked everyone's tickets. The fine is steep if you don't have it - 80 chf per person! I was amazed how quickly and quietly the whole process was conducted. I think one person in the back didn't have their ticket, but the only reason I clued in was that a control officer was back there so long. I kept thinking that in our neck of the woods, there would be loud voices, arguing over the rules or the "I must of lost it..."
Our train tickets were not checked enroute to Zürich, but were checked on the return leg.

A visit from St. Nick

Rumor has it that if you leave your shoes out on the 5th of December, St. Nick will stop by to check his list. If you've been good, your shoes are filled with gifts; if you've been bad, your shoes will be filled with sticks.

We visited the Christmas Market the evening of the 5th to admire the lights. Kicked off with a Santa ride - a horsedrawn carriage. The picture is blurry - the carriage was already full and we were taking up too much time... Sophia was also about to go into a major melt-down. She does NOT like being close to Santa. Alas, Megan and I decided that there was something funny about the horses. They must be reindeer in disguise. Afterall, Santa does have to keep the reindeer in shape during the off season, right?

I'm happy to report that both Megan and Sophia receieved shoes full of chocolate. In spite of having a very difficult time going to sleep, St. Nick was patient and left goodies (guess they must have been really good the rest of the year.)

We spent the 6th in Winterthur, wandering the SantaMarkt - which in addition to the hundred or so more wooden, seasonal Christmas Market stands, there were several others out around the city. Yummy waffles with vanilla sauce were in order for the kids.

Pictures:

1) Girls with Santa, about to get in the carriage

2) Goofy girls, decorating our mini tree

3) Our mini Christmas tree

Getting into the holiday spirit!

"Santa! Santa! Santa!" exclaimed Megan. As Megan and I were headed toward the Marionette Theater in Winterthur, we heard a jingle-jangle and the next thing we knew, Santa was gliding by in a horse drawn carriage! This is our first Santa sighting, short of the chocolate covered versions sitting in the stores. Sorry the picture is blurry - it's hard when there's so much in motion.

The Marionette show was fun - though was more of a story telling than I had hoped. I tried to to discreetly whisper the story to Megan as we went but it was difficult. The story was "Ein Abend Es War Kalt (One Night it was Cold)" and was about an Eskimo in Greenland, who went out side to investigate a noise on the 29th of February and found something sparkling in the cold. It wasn't hot to the touch, so he took it inside his igloo. The Eskimo wanted to keep the shining bauble - he tried to feed it, but it wouldn't eat. He tried to give it something to drink, but it wouldn't drink. Each night, he has a dream (total of 3) that he didn't understand. Finally, his dreams made sense (they were dreams of star parents looking for their child) and he decided to put the star back in the sky. But how? He couldn't throw it high enough; his bow couldn't shoot it high enough. He made it a nest in the snow and a bird swooped down and picked it up. As the bird flew away into the night sky, a new star appeared.

Sunday, we joined a couple hundred townspeope enjoying a free family concert by the Orchestrasymphonie St. Gallen at the Winterthur Stadthaus. Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" was the theme of the presentation (an abbreviated version). Throughout the concert, the story was narrated, which I found difficult to understand given the voice amplification and the slight echo. Sophia did well, for the most part. Megan seemed to really enjoy the music and watching everything in action on the stage. Here's our view from the balcony - the kids loved being able to stand up and look over the rail.

That's about all for this post. The weather has warmed up a bit, a nice reprieve from the freezing - though a bit of rain has set in. Not at all unlike Seattle. =)

Brrr! Winterthur, Switzerland

Still here in Winterthur, probably will be for another week. The campground is rather pleasant - quiet, clean and folks here are very friendly. I think the entire campground came out to greet us when we pulled in. To give them credit, the site is not really laid out for a vehicle of our size; neither is the lane one must take to get here (think "alley" size). Most speak English – all speak German. Nice! I feel like we can understand our surroundings again.

We’ve spent a lot of time wandering the city and not doing much else (well, besides feeding the ducks that seem to be at virtually every campground we've visited. I'm starting to think they are following us).

Winterthur is a cute little town and has a lot to offer visitors in all seasons. On the agenda for this weekend: a marionette show (in German), a family concert (free!), the kid's science museum and maybe the “winter mässi” (mässi = fair) and hopefully some winter holiday festivities. Things are gearing up for the holidays with the decorative street lights hung; the Christmas trees up (there’s about one on every block in the center of town) and the stores decked out with trimmings of the season. Megan and I decided we really liked this non-traditional Christmas tree in the window of a nearby store (see right). Megan especially was excited about the oversized butterflies on the tree!

This is an interesting country – many of you may know there are 3 official languages: German, French and Italian. However, there’s no indication of what language each city speaks. So we find ourselves wondering how it’s determined and by whom. The folks we encountered in the French region did not speak German and definitely did not speak English (something we knew we would encounter in France, but in Switzerland?). Here in the cities that speak German, folks appear on the surface more friendly and they want to speak English! We’ve had more conversations with people from the area in Winterthur than in our travels to date. (Note: It's Swiss German - so I still miss a lot of the context sometimes. One mom I talked to told me that the kids are now being taught "high" German (aka: formal) in schools.)

On a whim, we jumped on a bus to the “Gürze Markt” – based on an advertisement on said bus. The advertisement listed MediaMarkt, Coop “bau and hobby” (which would be building and hobby supplies) and a few other stores. We were looking for a hardware store. We found the Coop complex (this is the primary grocery brand over here… this particular one was a huge store with sub-stores and a hardware/hobby store surrounding it). Not finding what we needed, we wandered out and looked around the streets…. Hmmm. Couldn’t see any sign of any other significant consumer stores. Later that evening, at the Migros (the other grocery store) near us, I found an ad for Obi (large hardware store) – and, guess where it was? Just about 2 blocks from where we were earlier in the day. Sometimes, you can’t see the forest for the trees (especially true if you don't know the name of the forest...we only saw Obi stores in Germany). The morale of the story is – the city centers seem to have the more boutique shopping and you have to wander out to more industrial areas for the hardware or other specialty stores. I know the same is probably true in Seattle, but I’m so used to our mass merchant, big boxed stores – with several of each in the shopping areas. Of course, it could just be that I’m used to having a car and being able to drive around, wandering a bit vs. hoping on/off a bus and hoofing it. =)

On the RV side of the house…
Dan took on the project of wrangling together a grey water drain hose. For a few bucks and an hour or so of work, we can now stretch a hose over to the dump station and empty our shower/dishes water. This saves us about 50% of the movement of the RV (we were needing to move about every 2-days to empty tanks). Though if we stay still too long, we might just freeze in place (there's about an inch of ice on the roof already).

Weather is very crisp but this city is only infrequently graced by snow (yeah!). Lows are in the mid-20’s and highs in the mid-30’s. A little chilly. During Dan’s outing to the hardware store today, he also found a propane filling station – this is GREAT news for us as it’s less than 5km away and we are definitely using the propane to stay warm these days. For others considering this trip, we recommend an electric oil heater (looks like a radiator) and a fan to help circulate air. (We had a little 12v fan that runs off a cigarette lighter, but it met an untimely death under someone’s foot.)

Condensation is a daily battle. We welcome any input or ideas from other folks who overwintered in a cold climate in their motorhome. We have the calcium carbonate blocks, intended for dehumidification in boats and RVs. They can't compete very well with a freezing window though, so aren't the most effective. We have been experimenting with running the AC and fans each day. The best solution seems to be to air the unit out early in the morning… which is not the most pleasant of exercises as we are all just crawling out of our warm, cozy beds. We’re also pulling the bedroom slide in at night to help minimize the amount of surface area exposed to the cold air.

The holidays…
The winter holidays are coming quickly and we are going to start asking around for local customs. We see bags of shelled peanuts mixed with candy in the stores (presumably peanuts for the reindeer and candy for the little guy?) as well as long sticks formed in the shape of a broom with candy tied to it. Add in the delightful display of all sorts of Christmas cookies and cakes and I'm wondering how we'll survive the cold, cold winter and NOT gain about 30lb each on all the yummy goodies.

Will update again in a day or so and let you know how the Marionette show and concert go. Hopefully we'll have some holiday market pictures soon too.

Keep the emails and comments coming. We love hearing from our friends and family - it's like little presents everytime a new message shows up.

Ciao for now!

Sherry, Dan & kids

Winterthur, Switzerland

We're settled in for a week or so in Winterthur, just outside of Zurich. No Internet at the campground - but there is free WIFI (30-min/day) at the local McDonald's. So much for staying away from the big scary man dressed in a clown suit.

For those RV.NET readers - Switzerland has only 7 propane filling stations! One was in Interlaken; the rest are supposedly near Zurich.

That's all for now - will post pics and more later.

Ciao!
The Scherer Familiy

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving and we have tons to be thankful for .... especially:

• having a spouse who is crazy enough to take on the adventure of travelling together.
• two healthy, beautiful girls who can manage to make me laugh and irritate me in the same breath.
• a network of friends.
• a supportive family (several families, actually) - whether it be by storing our stuff, sending packages, sharing our memories or in the case of my host family, welcoming us with open arms after so many years.
• it's not snowing (yet)!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. May your holiday be pleasant and your tummies full. We're thinking of you and missing you all.

Our holiday decorations:

Our menu:

• Ham


• Broccoli


• Rice


• Dinner rolls


• Apple torte with vanilla ice cream

Thoughts on travelling with kids

Two opinions occur to me when I think about our trip:

1. Crazy - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, full-time parenting in a space smaller than a studio apartment and with foreign languages, strange foods and no set schedule.


2. Idealistic - We'll never get this time with our kids back. We'll learn so much: new cultures; to be flexible; that the world is big; there's more than one way to do things; tolerance for other cultures.

Elements of both views exist in our reality. Neither of us stayed home full-time with the kids before (exception being short stints for maternity leave). It has taken the better part of 3-months to settle in to full-time parenting; to get used to the idea that we are not contributing to the "greater" good of some project for a corporation, but are spending "quality" time as a family.


Just as there are Murphy's Laws for every aspect of life, there should also be a set of them for traveling with kids. I propose the following (feel free to chime with edits or missing laws):

1. Your toddler, who has done fine without a nap for several days in a row, will suddenly, undeniably need one just when the rest of the family is really starting to groove on an activity.


2. Even though the kids will have eaten well all day, they will suddenly be ravenous when in public. Meltdowns often cummulate with a very high-pitched, loud out cry of "...but I'm hungry!" The children's exuberance over free samples at the grocery store will be embarrassing as the sample lady looks at the kids with pity and gives them more.


3. No matter how frequently you have used the bathroom facilities, just when there is not one in the area, your child(ren) will have to "go." Now.


4. Kids still live for TV.


5. As in normal life, when you finally get on the phone, the kids have some urgent need that can't wait. Only, when traveling in Europe, it's a bit more of an expensive interruption and when on VOIP, it is confusing to the other person who suddenly hears muffled cries in the background.


6. Every playground sighted will be met with happy cries of "playground! playground! playground!" even if it is the same playground you've been camped at for a week.


7. No amount of time on the playground is quite long enough.


8. It's always the right season for ice cream.


9. If it's on the ground, your kids will want it. Inclusive of leaves, flower, trash, broken jewellery, broken toys. All are treasures to them, not to be parted with.


10. Boundaries will be pushed. Tempers will flare. You will hear yourself raising your voice more than you had hoped or planned.


11. Kids are loud. No matter how many times we have taught, asked, begged, pleaded to "lower your voices" they will still pipe up louder than anyone else in the place, usually at the most inopportune time.

That said, there is no greater joy then hearing your two year old giggle uncontrollably (even if it is in response to a TV show) or to hearing your six year old exclaim "cool" when some piece of art, culture or history sinks through.



To hear the kids attempt a "thank you" or "please" in German, French, Italian or Spanish warms my heart. To see the response on other people's faces as the kids are trying is almost as warming. People are truly appreciative of any effort you make to fit in with their culture.



If I've learned one thing about parenting in the past three months, it's that I raise my own voice too often. Hearing your own voice coming from your six year old can be a rather unsettling experience. I growl at the kids too much - I need to remember to praise them more and correct them less.



I've learned that in running around, trying to survive in a corporate life and help manage a household and raise kids, that I've forgotten how to have fun. I've forgotten what it means to laugh at the hilarity of a situation and get over it instead of fuming about it. I feel like I'm just starting to grasp the true meaning of our trip and it goes far beyond bonding as a family - it's also finding ourselves again.



My hope is that the kids will remember some of the positive attributes of the trip. I hope they remember a little of what it's like to be a foreigner as they grow up. Maybe it will help build a higher tolerance for people around us as the world shrinks.

For me, I'll keep looking for my sense of humor. I temporarily found it the other day as Sophia and I played a leaf-jumping game on the way home from the post office. The two of us giggling, chasing after leaves that were blowing in the wind so we could stomp on the mercilessly. Impervious to the 30-degree weather. And the wind, for that matter.